Sunny Dreams
by TheTrueGammer
Summary: Sometimes life gives us lemons. Some people say to make lemonade. I say you can't make lemonade because you still need sugar and water, both of which life has neglected to give you. And now, you're stuck with lemons when you asked for an apple. Life is cruel.
1. Of Disappointment

"Shoes?" Check.

"Inadequately packed bag?"Check.

"Hat?" Hats are lame.

"Overly cliché jacket?" Wouldn't be an adventure without one.

"Charming personality?"Uh… We'll have to work on that one.

My sad attempts at being funny aside, I ran through the checklist of stuff I'd need when I set off tomorrow. Everything was primed and ready for the experience of a lifetime. Everything except for…

"Starter Pokémon?" Heh, about that…

Most people would find it weird to see a kid preparing for a journey, yet not have any Pokémon. These same people would find it even weirder that it was a 14-year old doing all this stuff. Usually, kids were gallivanting across the lands at the ripe age of 10. Usually, anyway. There's always one or two sad saps whose parents are way to overprotective for their own good. Sadly, I'm one of those sad saps…

 **Backstory, oh boy!**

You see, when I turned 10, it was one of the best days of my life. Finally, I'd be able to embark on the long quest to achieve my dream of becoming Champion. Naturally, my dreams had to be crushed, so my parents told me that there was no way that they'd allow their only child to travel across an entire region with nothing but, and I quote, "dangerous monsters."

Of course, I wasn't going to take that, so when they're backs where turned, I went out to try and catch a Pokémon anyway; with nothing but a net and my bare hands. Needless to say, I woke up two days later in the ER and a newly developed fear for Poochyenas.

Of course, a little injury, if you'd call a broken leg little, like that would never keep me down. Every day, I'd relentlessly question about when I could get a Pokémon until, eventually, my parents caved and said they'd get me a "dangerous monster" when I finished Middle School.

Since I wasn't an idiot, I knew that that was at least 4 years away. I voiced my discontent on the long wait, but was quickly shut up when my parents said that if I complained one more time, I could say goodbye to Pokémon and hello to the family business, professional gardening.

So, I postponed my dream for, hopefully, 4 more years, and believe me when I say those years where mental torture. One by one, my so-called "friends" pointed and laughed at me for not having a Pokémon while they did, and then embarked on their journeys the next day. Eventually, I was one of the 3 kids still attending school, excluding all the younger kids, the other two being a guy with really thick glasses, and this _extremely_ pale girl. It didn't help that our teacher wasn't very good at his job. He either didn't show up at all, or when he did, he was hung over. None of use questioned why he was like this, I was afraid of the answer I'd receive, so he was never replaced.

 **Back to present day**

"What kind of Pokémon do you think they got me?" I asked to my Pikachu plushy who, shockingly, didn't respond.

I glanced over at my clock, **1:38am** , it read. Yep. I should get to sleep soon. I set about getting everything I'd need for tomorrow, and put them in a pile near my door. I set my alarm for **8:30am** \- 7 hours was enough sleep, right? -and changed into my night clothes (white t-shirt and some old shorts), and climbed into bed. Tomorrow would be the day I took the first step into the rest of my life. Would I achieve my life-long dream, or would I be relegated to a gardener for the rest of my life? Only time would tell…

* * *

"Aaaawaaaaawh…" I yawned as I woke up and stretched.

I sleepily looked over at my clock, **7:24am**. I was usually and early riser anyway. I turned off my alarm, hopped out of bed, and took a nice, long shower. Who knows when I'd be able to take on again? Exiting the bathroom, having brushed my teeth after finishing up the shower, I went back to my room, opened the blinds, and stared out the window. My home town… This might be the last time I see it. Well, that wasn't true. I'd come back eventually, I think. Either way, I wouldn't be back for a long time. It was kind of sad really. I was born and raised here, and now I was turning my back on it to travel to other places. It almost felt like I was betraying the city and the people that lived there. Like, they weren't interesting enough for me, and I had to go elsewhere to sate my thirst for adventure and surprises. It almost made me not want to go. Almost. I had waited too long to say 'Screw it, I'm staying home,' now.

I shook my head, and tore my gaze from the window. It was almost time to go. I walked over to where my gear from last night sat, and got ready. Clothes, on. Belt, on. Jacket, on. Bag, on. Hat, still lame. I was ready.

Walking down the steps to our sun filtered living room, I immediately noticed the small box and note resting on top of it. Of course, just because I was out of school, hopefully forever, doesn't mean my parents were done working. I was a little disappointed that they weren't there to see me off, but as I thought on it, it was probably for the best considering their attitude towards Pokémon. Getting excited again, I practically ran over towards the box, picking up the card when I reached it. Only, when I picked it up, I realized that it wasn't a card, but rather an envelope. I opened it up and **HOLY GOAT-GOD ON A STICK!** Inside… In… Inside of the envelope was a thick wad of cash. And I mean _thick._ Like, at least 100,000 thick. There was nothing else in the envelope, but man my parents were loaded. Maybe being a farmer or whatever wasn't so bad if I had this kind of money readily available… Nah, still not worth it… Barely…

Still in shock from having so much money- wait if my parents had this much money, how come I never got an allowance? Ah, whatever. I put the money down and slowly turned towards the box. With trembling fingers, I reached towards the lid and pulled it off. There, nestled between pieces of Styrofoam- meaning it was an import –was a Poké Ball. A shiny, red and white Poké Ball. I slowly reached towards the ball, purposely building anticipation for the moment where I'd own my very first Pokémon. I closed my hand around the ball, pulled it out, and inspected it. I was no expert, but this had to be the finest Poké Ball in existence.

"Go! Pokémon!" Seriously? That was the best phrase I could come up with?

The tossed ball sailed through the air for a good yard until finally landing. A bright light flashed as the force of the impact caused the ball to bounce back up and open. As the light subsided, I could make out the Pokémon that had been inside the ball. It was…

…

…

A Sunkern…

:-:-:-:-:-:

 **A/N: Hey, look. A story from me that hopefully is longer than 1 Chapter. Anyway, feel free to critique my writing, if you want.**


	2. Of Bad Luck

**Disclaimer- I own everything** **Pokémon. Now, if you believed that I'm laughing at you because it was a total lie. I only own OC's.**

* * *

Sometimes, life gives us lemons. Some people say to make lemonade. I say you can't make lemonade because you still need water and sugar, both of which life has neglected to give. So now, you're stuck with some stupid lemons when you asked for an apple. Life is cruel.

To say I was disappointed by my Starter was an understatement. Hundreds of unique, some even legendary, Pokémon, and I was stuck with the worst one. Disappointment didn't even begin to describe it.

"Kern?" It looked at me questioningly. Stupid seed. At least it was kind of cute.

Cute Pokémon are okay, and all, but I need strength in order to become Champion. I think the current Champion has a Metagross or something. There's no way a Sunkern can beat that. Maybe I could pawn it off somewhere for something better… Nah, who's going to want a Sunkern?

"Sun!" It's now sitting contently in a patch of sunlight near the window. At least one of us is happy.

I turn back towards the box. Maybe this was some kind of joke and my real Starter was at the bottom. But as I dug through the Styrofoam, I found no other ball. I did find a map of the region, which was nice, I think.

I sigh heavily. Looks like I was stuck with the thing. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess.

"Well, looks like you're coming with me." I say to the Sunkern, who looks up at me. Man, those are some big eyes.

"I guess you'll need a name. I can't just call you Sunkern forever." Maybe I should give it a lame name like Sunny. Maybe I shouldn't be so spiteful towards it. After all, it's not its fault that I'm stuck with it. No, it's my parents' fault that I'm stuck with it. Maybe they didn't know better and thought Sunkern was a good choice for me. Or maybe, they knew how bad it was, and deliberately gave it to me to detour me from leaving home. I had a sneaking suspicion it was the latter.

Nevertheless, I wasn't about to let a setback like this keep me down. I point the Poké Ball towards Sunkern, name still pending, and returned it. Not having one of those nifty Trainer belts, I put the ball in my bag. I'd have to stop by a store before I split town. Picking up the wad of cash, that I almost forgot all about, and putting that in my bag also, I made my way to the front door. It was probably in everyone's best interest that I didn't come back here for a while. Turning the door knob, I opened the door and walked out. Like they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Sadly, my journey might take a lot more than a thousand miles…

* * *

30 minutes of walking later, and I found myself in the main part of town.

Okay. First things first, I need to find the Poké Mart, buy some stuff, and split town. Hm, maybe I shouldn't say stuff like split town; makes me sound like a criminal. Anyway, I look around me for the distinctive blue that marks the Poké Mart, finally spotting through a crowd of people across the street. Crossing the street, I make my way to the doors of the Mart and push them open.

Huh. I'd never been inside before, having no Pokémon before today I had no reason, but entering one for the first time, it was a little underwhelming. Where all of them this small? I know some cities have a Department Store, which I assume are bigger. Regardless, I set out looking for some supplies.

After ringing everything up, surprisingly only spending 5,000 , looked over my purchases: 5 potions, 5 Poké Balls, one of those fancy Trainer belts, and some Pokémon food. I forgot to buy a bowl, though. Was it okay to feed Pokémon by hand? Oh well, I was already out of the Mart now, and didn't feel like going back in. The cashier kept staring at me the whole time. Either I had some food on my face, or he didn't get a whole lot of customers. It was probably the latter, seeing as I neglected to eat before leaving home.

Of course, once I realized that I forgot to eat, I was immediately hungry. Luckily, I had packed some food the night before. I had just hoped it would last me longer than an hour or 2. Oh well. Deciding to eat once I got out of town, lest a horde of Pidove swarm me, I start walking towards the town's exit.

Another 20 minutes, and I was too hungry to move any further. Having exited town 10 minutes before hand, I figured I was far enough away that the Pidove wouldn't find me. Sitting down on a rock near a stream, I took of my bag in order to get my food. In my infinite wisdom, I had carelessly dumped everything I bought from the Mart into my bag. Their combined weight ended up crushing my food. Great. To make things even better, something burst in my bag and now everything was wet and sticky. Turns out it was one of the Potions. Weren't these things supposed to be durable? Regardless, now I was down to 4 Potions and no food, the Potion had got its whatever Potions are made out of all over my crushed food.

3 hours into my journey and I was already starving and out of food. I could try eating the food, but I'm not sure Potions are meant for human consumption. In fact, based on the smell, it had some chemicals that'd probably kill me in seconds. And I'm supposed to spray this stuff on weak Pokémon to make them feel better?

* * *

After taking everything out, releasing Sunkern, who I've decided to name Sunny after all, and washing the Potion out of my bag, I was even hungrier than before. I would've gone back and bought some food in town, but the Potion had got on my money too, and you can guess how that ended. Now I was foodless and broke. But enough about my problems, Sunny's probably hungry too. Picking the bag of Pokémon food up- isn't it wonderful how that was the only thing to escape unscathed? –I poured some into my hand and held it out to Sunny, who was dozing in the sun. Smelling the food, he/she/it slowly opened his/her/its eyes and looked at the food. And promptly turned around and started licking the grass.

"Sunny, no. Don't lick grass. Eat food instead." I was ignored. Stupid seed.

Sighing, I was about to drop the food in the bag when I had a stupid thought crossed my mind. I wonder how Pokémon food would tas- No, I wasn't hungry enough to eat Pokémon food. Or was I? I know trainers had to eat wild berries often, but I wasn't going to risk it. With how my day's been going, I'd end up eating a poisonous berry and die. Pokémon food can't be good for me either.

Shaking my head, I drop the food in the bag and closed it. I started putting everything back in my bag, being careful to neatly pack so nothing got damaged. I kept Sunny's ball out, I could clip it on my belt now. Now, for the problem at hand: I'm hungry and the majority of my money is unusable. Foraging for berries is out, and I'm not desperate enough to eat Pokémon food yet. My only option was to make some money to buy food. How did trainers make money again? Oh, they fought other trainers. Hm…

I glance over to Sunny who has finished licking grass and is now dozing in the sun again. Someone's lazy. Could he, I'm calling him a he until I learn otherwise, actually win against anything? He can take on a Magikarp. Those are pretty useless until they evolve and he would have a type advantage… Okay! It's decided. I just have to find someone with a Magikarp to battle.

With a plan, however flimsily, I stand up and sling my bag back on my back. I return Sunny and clip his ball on my belt. Man, this thing's pretty handy. I grab my map, which also survived the Potion Massacre, and checked it to see where the next town was. Looks like I have to go south for a bit and go through a forest. Maybe I could catch some cool Pokémon there.

Closing the map, I go towards the bridge that connects the two banks of the stream. As I begin to cross the bridge, I'm stopped when I hear a deep voice.

"After hours of lying in wait, our Hero finally spots weak looking trainer to ambush." The voice kind of reminds me of those movie narr- Wait, did he just call me weak? Where was the voice even coming from?

"The poor soul looks around in confusion, bewildered by the ingenious tactics that sprang from our Hero's mind. His hiding place was one which was undetectable to the untrained eye." Okay, what was going on? Suddenly I heard a yell, then a splash.

"Distracted by his next foe, our Hero loses his grip from under the bridge, and plunges into the cold stream below. He is now wet." I look under the bridge to see some guy wearing a ninja outfit lying in the stream. He stands up and walks from under the bridge.

"Our Hero's enemy employed clever tactics to lure him from his hiding place. Our Hero is ashamed that he was outplayed so easily." This guy sure loves the sound of his own voice.

"In an attempt to retain his honor, our Hero decides to challenge his foe to a battle of wits, courage, and Pokémon." Was he challenging me to a battle or reading a movie trailer?

"Look," I say, "You seem like a… Complete weirdo. I'm just going to go now."

"Our Hero's cowardly foe backs down from his challenge." Cowardly?!

"Hey! I'm not a coward! Fighting people just isn't high on my priority list," unless they had a Magikarp, "especially not against people who ambush children from under bridges."

"Our dastardly Villain, while obviously quaking in terror of our Hero's strength, does bring up a good point. Our Hero heeds the Villains words and takes them to heart. He does not retract his challenge."

"Listen buddy. I. Don't. Want. To. Fight. You. Got it?"

"Hearing the Villain's words, our Hero comes to the conclusion that the Villain is nothing more than a novice. He laughs at the Villain's vain attempts to act courageous in front of him." That's it!

"Fine! You want a battle? I'll give you a battle!" I'm sure Sunny can take this eccentric nut job.

"Ha! Having successfully goaded our foolish Villain into a one-sided battle, our Hero brandishes his Pokémon of choice to decimate the Villain's equally foolish team. Our Hero chooses you! Hector!" And out comes a Swapert… I've made a terrible mistake.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

 **A/N: Coming soon to a screen near you: One Brutal Beat down.**


	3. Of First Battles

I think I've learned some pretty valuable lessons today. Lesson 1, learn to pack your bag better. Lesson 2, learn which berries are poisonous or not. Lesson 3, don't, no matter what, get goaded into fights by random strangers when all you have is a Sunkern.

I look at the Swampert in shock.

"Our Hero laughs upon but a moment's glance at his opponent's face. Clearly, this odious villain had not expected such tremendous power to be released upon the mere summoning of our Hero's faithful companion."

You know, he's not wrong. Based on his getup, I'd guess he'd have a Poison type or something, which, now that I think about it, would've been a bad match-up against Sunny. But still, a Swampert?! Even with the double weakness…

"…Look, I didn't actually want to fight you, so…" I offer.

"Ha! This noisome malefactor clearly doesn't know the rules behind battling! Once a challenge is issued or accepted, whomever fails to comply must hand over everything in their possession!" Well, that doesn't sound right. Matter fact that sounds like an extorter's paradise. What a minute…

"Noisome malefactor? What does that even mean?"

"Enough pointless banter, knave! Summon your Pokémon!" The Swampert roars its agreement. Sunny, I am so sorry…

"Go… Sunny…" I say half-halfheartedly as I toss Sunny's ball out. A flash of white, and out pops Sunny. He just sits motionless on the bridge for a couple of seconds before turning back to me with an expression that said 'Dude, seriously?' I give a weak smile in response. Meanwhile, Mr. Hero is having the time of his life.

"Kehehehehe… Is this the best that our reprehensible hoodlum can do? A lowly Sunkern? Our Hero snickers at you." After that comment, I don't know who's more pissed, me or Sunny. Who was he to judge my Pokémon? Only I was allowed to do that!

"Enough pointless banter, 'hero'." I say, my voice thick with sarcasm. "Let's get this started." I tried to sound like I knew what I was doing. In truth, this was my first battle, with the weakest Pokémon against a fully evolved one, and I didn't even know what moves mine had. This wouldn't last more than a second.

"Uh… Sunny, this one's up to you?" I figured he'd know more about his move set then I would. He looks at me funny and turns around.

"Kehehe… Hector! Use Ice Beam!" Uh oh. A thin beam of ice spouted from the Swampert's mouth and headed right towards Sunny, who made no effort to dodge. Then, at the last second, multiple copies of Sunny appeared. Double team, huh?

The Ice Beam originally meant for Sunny hit one of the copies, which dissipated on contact. It was quickly replaced by another one.

"Heh. Our Hero sees that this foul ruffian has some tricks up his sleeve." Uh, thanks? "But it matters not! Hector, hit them all with Blizzard!"

Multiple snow/ice balls erupted from the Swampert's mouth. Due to the spread of the attack, it was able to hit all the double team clones, including the real Sunny. He was hit, and the recoil sent him flying backwards a bit. He landed on the ground with a loud thud and the splintering of wood. That… Sounded like it hurt.

"Heh. Our appalling lowlife now understands the sheer power our Hero has at his disposal. Now! Prepare your next Pokémon or fo- Eh?" He's cut off Sunny getting up. Wait, how did he survive that? I mean, he was huffing and puffing, but still standing.

"Kern!" He says, with a somewhat sadistic smile. Then, with speed that Sunny couldn't possibly possess, he launched himself towards the Swampert. Caught off guard, the Swampert takes the brunt of the blow. The force of the impact sent the Swampert flying.

Then, even faster than before, Sunny executed another move. Whitish orbs came from Sunny's mouth and move towards the still flying Swampert. Upon its landing, complete with a very heavy thud, the orbs connected and returned to Sunny, seemingly revitalizing him. The Swampert, however, was on the ground, KO'd.

I stared at Sunny in disbelief. Mr. Hero stared at me in shock. Sunny proudly bounced back to me, a contented smile on his face.

"Sun!" He said happily. You know, maybe having him as a starter wasn't such a bad thing.

"Our… Our Hero, utterly shocked by the obvious foul play this lowdown crook, returns his Pokémon. And… And makes a strategic withdrawal from combat." Hey, that means…

"So, you forfeit?" I ask.

"NO!... Ahem, Our Hero would never falter in the face of danger! However, sometimes it is wise to withdrawal from combat to avoid further injury."

"So… You gave up?"

"Just shut up and take my money." Hey, that line was out of character from him. I think I pissed him o- Ooh, prize money!

Mr. Hero, begrudgingly, hands me a sizable wad of cash, returns his Swampert and vanishes. Like, literally. He threw down this smoke bomb, and when it cleared he was gone. I always wondered how people did that.

Anyway, I pocket the cash and look down at Sunny. This little guy is stronger than he looks if he can take down a Swampert in two hits like that. Though, he is looking pretty tired. I return him.

"It would probably be a good idea to take him back to the Pokémon Center before heading into that forest, huh?" Only a couple hours in, and we're already backtracking. Oh well, Sunny deserves a rest. He deserves more than a rest, really…

* * *

A couple hours later, and I get Sunny back. Surprisingly, there was a long queue to get your Pokémon healed at the Center. I heard some people say something about some guy named Mike, or whatever. Anyway, after getting Sunny back, the sun was starting to set. I debated on whether or not setting off again was a good idea, but ultimately decided to postpone it for tomorrow. I was a little miffed- another postponement? Really? –but told myself I wouldn't be doing anyone any favors by dying in some woods at night. I get up from the comfy, comfy couch that the Center had and walked over to the counter to book a room. It's pretty convenient how Pokémon centers not only heal your Pokémon, but give you a place to stay for the night completely free. Did make me wonder how they stayed in operation, though.

"One room, please." I say as I reach the counter. The line had gone down around 2 hours ago.

"I'm sorry," The nurse responds, "All of our rooms are full. You're free to sleep on the couch, however." Well crap. I kind of wanted the privacy that a room would provide. Though, at this point the lobby was mostly empty, just a few people either leaving the Center or walking towards their rooms, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

I move back towards the couch and sit down. Sunny's probably knocked out in his ball- what happens inside of those things anyway? –but I wasn't all that tired. I guess I could watch some TV for a bit. The Name Rater Show is pretty fun to watch; seeing what people named their Pokémon is pretty interesting…

* * *

"This place sucks!" It had been a couple of hours since I'd woken up and departed from the Center. I had entered the Petalburg Woods, name supplied by some random guy loitering by the entrance, about an hour ago, and I was already sick of it. It was cold, dark, confusing, and I'm pretty sure I saw a ghost earlier. Did I mention the bugs? An infinite swarm of Wurmple, and the occasional Paras, didn't make for a fun time.

Sunny seemed fine though, despite him being weak to bugs, so I guess this was good training for him. I munch on a berry.

"At least that girl from the flower shop was nice enough to give me some berries." In all my haste, I had forgotten to buy more food before leaving. Luckily there was a flower shop nearby, and I was able to get some berries. And a pail shaped like a Wailmer. I finish the berry, Oran by the way.

"Alright Sunny, we need to get out of here ASAP. Any idea where the exit is?" I ask my Pokémon, who was walking, it was more like hopping, beside me.

"Sun?" I'll take that as a no. I sigh.

"More aimless wandering for us, then…"

Another hour later, and we're still lost. My legs have numerous cuts on them, my feet are killing me, and I'm pretty sure Sunny got poisoned, so I had to return him. The only good thing to come from the forest was all the Pokémon I'd caught. Well, the two of them anyway. Yes, with five balls, I had only managed to catch two Pokémon, but I was still proud of myself.

The first Pokémon was that ghost thing I'd saw earlier. I didn't know what it was, there are hundreds of known Pokémon so excuse me if I don't know them all, but it looked like it had a stump on its head, so I named it Stumpy.

The second Pokémon, and most likely where Sunny got poisoned, was a Wurmple. I struggled for a name but, since it was poisonous, I named it Hemlock. Truly, I am genius when it comes to naming Pokémon.

Anyway, the forest was starting to get dark, darker than it had been before, so I assumed that night was coming. If this place was this sucky during the day, I definitely don't want to be here at night. The thing was, I didn't know where here was. Everything looked so similar in this place, so it was difficult to know if I was making any progress. Something tells me that I'm going to hate forests for the rest of my life after this.

Just when I had lost all hope of ever finding the exit, I found the exit. Ironic, I know. I didn't really care though; all I cared about was getting out of that place and never returning.

I hurriedly make my way towards the exit. Fresh air! Oh, I've missed you! Exiting the forest puts me on a small cliff overlooking the ocean. There's a path that leads down to the beach with patches of grass on either side of it. There's also this cabin next to a dock that I assume is used for fishing. Looking out towards the ocean, one could see the sun being swallowed up by the ocean, its brilliant array of colors being cascaded on and reflected by the water. It was a beautiful sight; one that pictures just couldn't do justice.

It was calming, too. Just a few seconds' glance had been enough to bring my mood up. I shake my head. I can't just stay here forever. I start walking down path and towards the beach. Next to the cabin, the path takes a left, heading down towards the beach. Straight ahead, however, is a large patch of grass that looks like it leads to the same place. Must be a shortcut.

Taking it, faster is generally better; I reach the entrance to a sizable city. Finally! Some actually progress!

"Let's see here… Petalburg City? Bleh. If it's anything like that forest I just got out of, I'm going to hate it…" I say, walking into the city limits.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh, hey. We're in Hoenn. Cool. Well, actually Hoenn is pretty hot. Anyway, how exactly did a Sunkern beat a Swampert in only two hits? It's all about the IVs, EVs, and Nature man...**


	4. Of Potential Danger

By the time I reach Petalburg City's Pokémon Center, the sun has set completely. One thing Petalburg and its woods have in common; they're both bigger than they seem. Another thing they both have in common; they both try my patience. Walking through the streets, I got just as lost as I did in the woods, often making turns that led into shady, shady alleyways.

Miraculously, I had avoided being mugged, or worse, and ended up at the Center in one piece. Highly irritated and slightly afraid, yes, but still in one piece. I enter the center.

Upon entering, I'm greeted with a vacant and silent lobby; not even a nurse behind the counter is present. Weird.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" No response. Maybe they were close? Do Pokémon Centers close? I don't think so. I walk towards the counter.

As I get closer, I notice a little note left on top of the counter. It reads: _'Pokémon Healing DIY tutorial. Step 1: Place Pokéballs onto machine. Step 2:? Step 3: PROFIT!'_

Uh… What? Oh wait, there's more written on the bottom: _'To heal your Pokémon, place them on the machine, press the big red button, and wait two hours. We can't service you at this time, but it's not our fault. It is, however, your problem._

Well, that one was more informative, if a little… frank. Though, I do wonder what could've come up to leave a Center so devoid of people. Maybe it's because of a ghost…

I suddenly shudder, remembering how Stumpy had seemingly followed me in Petalburg Woods. I turn around slowly… And there's nothing there. Geez, stop being paranoid, me. Turning back to the counter, I decide it'd be best to heal up Sunny, along with the other Pokémon that I caught in the woods. Seeing the healing machine behind the counter, I hop over it, which probably didn't look as cool as I think it did.

"So, I just put the balls here and…?" As soon as I placed all the Pokéballs on the machine, a red button off to the side started to glow. Glowing red button that a strange paper told me to press? Sure, why not. After pressing the button, the balls started to rotate, and light started to glow from underneath them. I guess they're being healed. How do healing machines even work, I wonder. Shrugging off that train of thought, I'd end up confusing myself by thinking about it too much; I hop back over the counter.

Well, now what do I do? My Pokémon are healing up and the Center is still empty. Hm, the lobby is empty, so it's probably safe to assume that the rooms would be too. Okay, now I just got to figure out where they keep the room keys… Hm... Nope, they don't seem to be behind the counter. Wait a minute! Here's one. It says… _Room 216._ Second floor, got it.

I figure I can take a quick, or long, shower and be back down here before the two hours are up. I make my way towards the elevator. Why there are elevators in a two-story building, I'll never understand. Won't find me complaining, though…

* * *

2 hours, a nice shower, and a change of clothes later and I'm back in the lobby waiting for my Pokémon to finish healing. The lobby is still empty, but with it being almost midnight now, it makes more sense than it did before. Though, I had the feeling that this would've been empty even if it had been noon. Heck, it probably was empty at noon.

Which brings me back to a previous train of thought, what happened to empty out such an important building like this? Ghosts? Threats? A classic movie series finally getting a good seventh movie? The more and more I went one, the less likely the reasons became.

A jingle coming from the healing machine brings me out of my musings. My Pokémon are all healed up. I grab their balls and stash them back on my handy belt. Alright, my Pokémon are healed, I'm all nice and clean, it's late and I'm tired, and I haven't eaten since the woods earlier today. Naturally, the only thing to do is plop down on a couch and watch some TV. I sit down on the couch and turn the TV on. Ugh, Great Flag Hunter is on. What a bore.

I flip through the channels until I get to the local news. Maybe this'll shed some light onto why the Center is empty…

"-are still filing in about the alarming rise of petty crimes in the area." The news reporter, well, reports.

"Eyewitnesses have reported seeing hooded figures with strange black and red tails spray painting buildings, busting open fire hydrants, and stealing magic trick sets." Black and red tails? Where have I…

"There have been rumors of a new gang, and while gangs are certainly nothing new to Petalburg, they have been mostly passive in the past. Regardless of the situation, viewers are urged to stay home and- Hey! You can't be back here! Wait, what are you do-." The video cuts out there.

Okay. Okay, stay calm. Don't panic. A potentially dangerous gang has been terrorizing the town and probably just interrupted a news report. This isn't my problem. Just lock the center doors, go to my room, lock _that_ door, and go to sleep. Come morning, I get up and leave immediately. Okay, sounds like a plan.

 _What about all the people who live here?_ says a voice in my head. I'm sure they'll be fine.

 _What if they won't?_

That's not my problem. I don't even live here.

 _You could help._

That doesn't sound like a good idea. Leaving as soon as possible sound likes a good idea.

 _If people get hurt because you didn't try to help, it'll be all your fault._

No, it would- Wait, why am I talking to myself about this? Probably the panic starting to settle in. No problem, just follow the plan and we'll be fine.

I head over to the counter and look for the little alarm button that government buildings have that locks the doors. Wait, don't those also notify the police? Nah, it'll be fine.

I press the button and a large metal grate comes crashing down in front of the doors. Once they reached the floor, halting with a loud crash, the lights in the center shut off. Don't pan- Ah, screw it.

I quickly turn away from the counter and sprint down the hall with the elevator at the end. I reach the elevator, nearly running head first into it, and mash the up button like my life depended on it, which is probably did.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the elevator still hadn't come down. I kicked myself mentally; the Alarm button must've also disabled the power, hence the lights going out. Calming down a little, I look to my left and right, trying to find the stairs. No stairs; only another door with a metal grate in front of it, presumably leading outside. Time retrace my steps.

I run, slower this time, back into the lobby. While running through the lobby, I see something out of my peripheral, something that causes me to stop in my tracks; walking just outside the center in the black of night, a tallish hooded figure with a black and red tail. It keeps walking until it's right in front of the center's doors. It stops, looks up for a second, and then lazily looks through the glass doors; right at me. Maybe it's too dark, maybe it can't see me. Then the figure smiles maliciously.

That's more than enough to snap me back into action. I turn away from the doors, and sprint, even faster than before, towards the other hall, the hall the hopefully had the stairs. Behind me, I hear glass break, which only makes me run faster. I find a door labeled "Stairs", thank Arceus, and open it as fast as humanly possible. I take the stairs three at a time, and because of my haste hit my shin on the last one. This causes me to fall flat on my face. Oww…

I pick myself up, shin hurting, nose bleeding, and try to walk towards the door. Okay, shin hurts too much. I limp as fast as I can towards the door and push it open. Now on the second floor, I fish around in my pocket trying to find my room key. To my horror, I can't seem to find it. Please, oh please don't tell me I drop- Oh wait. Here it is. Phew.

Key in hand, I shuffle my way over towards my room, thankfully it wasn't too far away. I reach the door, shove the key in the lock and open it. Once inside, I slam it close, put on both locks, and jam a chair under the handle for good measure.

Reassured that I'm safe, for now at least, I try and get my bearings. My nose is still bleeding freely, so I should probably deal with that…

A couple minutes later yields me two wads of tissue shoved up my nose. I think this staunches the blood flow? Anyway, I look over at the chair under the door handle, still in place. Good. My shin still hurts, but there's not much I can do about that. Maybe I could spray a potion on it? Wouldn't hurt to try.

I head back into the bathroom, where I left my bag after taking my shower. Rummaging through it, I find a potion. Zipping the bag back up, I sit down on the closed toilet. I roll up my pant leg. Wow, my leg is unnaturally red.

Grabbing a hand towel from the rack above the toilet, I stuff it in my mouth. If this stuff burns, and I'm sure it will, I don't want to be heard screaming; especially not with a hardened criminal potentially inside.

Bracing myself, I position the nozzle of the potion directly above my shin. I squeeze the handle hard. **SWEET MOTHER OF- SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP!** Is what I would've said. Instead it came out more like…

"Mm mph!" Accompanied with me stomping my other leg and tightening my free hand as much as possible. I was smart to stuff this towel in my mouth. They probably would've been able to hear me all the way from Almia.

The pain, luckily, was brief and was soon replaced with a cool, healing sensation. I take the towel out of my mouth and breathe a sigh of relief. Potions hurt. Remind me to think twice before using them on my Pokémon again…

Oh yeah, my Pokémon. Moving out of the bathroom and next to the bed in the room, I reach for the balls on my belt. I throw them all at the same time.

"Listen up guys and/or girls, we have a... situation on our hands, err paws. Wait, but Sunny doesn't have any paws…" They look at me in confusion. Well, except for Sunny. He's asleep. I wake him up.

"Anyway, bad guy in the building, potentially a killer and we're all alone. Because of this, we need to keep an eye on all the entrances. For the entire night." Stumpy looks pissed. Hemlock still looks confused. Sunny's shaking his head/body at me.

"Glad to see you all understand. Hemlock, you take the window."

"Wurm!" He nods, finally seeming to understand something and waddles over to the window. He then proceeds to crawl up the windowsill and stand on the glass. Okay then.

"Stumpy," I say while turning to him, "You take the vents," blank look in response. "That thing up there," I say pointing towards the vent.

"Phan." He… sighs- can Pokémon sigh? –and floats lazily up to the vent.

"Sunny, you and I are on door duty. Brace yourselves; we're in for a long night."

"Kern." Only Sunny responds. I pick him up and put him on my shoulder. I bring another chair over, position it in front of the door, and sit down in it. A look of determination crosses my face.

"You're not going to sneak up on us, uh, black and red tailed villain." Sunny sighs at me.

"Hey, shut up you."

* * *

 **A/N: Strange events are happening in Petalburg. Petty crimes. Disappearances. Interruption of repetitious news forecasts. No one knows what's going on. Will the mystery ever be solved? Find out next chapter. (Coming eventually.)**


	5. Of A Midnight Flight

It' midnight. I'm here, responsible for watching multiple entrances in order to keep probably deranged killer(s) from attacking me. This reminds me so much of a game I played recently, it's not funny.

Regardless, it had only been a couple of minutes into our door watching duty when I heard a noise come from somewhere down the hall.

"…" Instead of one of those dumb horror movie protagonists, I decided to keep my mouth shut. As far as I know, whoever's out there doesn't know where I am. Besides, when has asking 'Who's there?' ever done anyone any good?

Footsteps. Soft _quiet_ footsteps, barely audible, but still so. I stand up and look for the nearest blunt object. They don't know what room I'm in, right? So, when they walk past, I'll just be able to leap out of my room and smash them over the head, _right?!_

Okay, okay, let's calm down. Where was I? Oh yeah, blunt object… Wow, why is this room so devoid of possible weapons in case of emergencies? It's like they expect us to carry ar- Oh wait… I have Pokémon with me. Duh.

"Stumpy, Hemlock, get over here," I hiss as quietly as possible, Sunny already being on my shoulder. Only Stumpy seems to hear me, though, and floats down from the vents. Hemlock is still clinging dutifully to the window.

"Can you go over there and get him?" I ask Stumpy as quietly as before. Stumpy, as if sensing the tenseness of the situation, doesn't give an audible reply, but simply nods his head. I wonder do ghost have a sixth sense when it comes to sensing danger?

A few moments later, Stumpy and Hemlock return from the window, the latter looking sheepish for not hearing me before.

"Wur-"He starts to say.

"Shhhh!" I interrupt him. Apparently, Stumpy neglected to explain the situation to Hemlock. Though, based on his expression of amusement, it might have been intentional.

"Alright guys, here's the plan," I whisper. "When who's ever out there walks by, I'm going to open the door and you guys hit them with everything you've got. Hemlock, you-"It suddenly occurred to me that I _still_ didn't know any of my Pokémon's moves. Might need to work on that.

"On second thought, just do whatever you think is right. Got it?" An enthusiastic nod, a sigh, and an amused smirk are what I get in response. I'll let you guess who's who.

I press my ear up to the door and strain to hear the footsteps again. Nothing. I wait a little longer. Still, nothing. Had I imagined them? No, I was sure that I had heard something. So why… Why was there nothing now? Did they leave and I just missed it? Or… Or, were they standing in front of the door now? That was a thought that I didn't want to leave unanswered.

Heart pounding, I slowly bring my eye to the door's peephole. Looking back at me, the hooded figure I had seen earlier. I couldn't help myself. I jumped back from the door and screamed. I mean, can you blame me? That thing was _creepy_! And, it just about scared me to death.

Things only got worse when it started pounding on the door. This sprung everyone into action. I stopped screaming and resumed my earlier search for something blunt. My Pokémon each took up a defensive stance, more or less. I say that because, while Sunny and Hemlock looked determined and ready, Stumpy looked a little apprehensive.

My search eventually bared fruit; I just ended up removing the shower rod from the bathroom. The curtain fell on the ground, but I'd pick that up later… If I was alive later… How about we don't think like that, yeah?

The pounding was still going, with even more vigor than before, when I returned from acquiring my weapon. I held the rod in front of me like it was a quarterstaff. My Pokémon, excluding Stumpy who was fidgeting about now, were still in their stances from before.

We were all in position. We were ready for whatever was behind that door as the pounding continued. Afraid for our lives, well I was at least, but still prepared to go out fighting.

Suddenly, however, the pounding stopped. A few moments passed when I noticed something coming from underneath the door, something dark. It was almost like shadows were sneaking under the door.

The shadows kept moving; from under the door, to under our feet, and eventually behind us, our attention on it the entire time. Finally, it came to a stop a couple of feet front of us.

The shadows sat there for a while, but then they started to rise into the air, coming together to form a figure. I had an idea of what was happening, and I wasn't about to sit here and let it.

I started to move forward to deliver a blow with my rod, but before I could even get moving, Hemlock let out a kind of battle cry and shot multiple volleys of pins from his mouth. Pin Missile or Poison Sting? Either way, the pins made their way to the shadows- the figure was starting to look more pronounced now –but as they reached their quarry, they phased right through them, hitting and shattering the window behind it, the glass falling to the ground 26 feet below; the figure becoming more and more complete every second.

Two choices; wait and try to fight whatever was coming out of the shadows, or jump out the newly broken window and pray I survive. Both options looked incredibly unappealing.

I was spared on having to choose, however, when the shadows finally stopped gathering; the figure was complete. That hood, the tail, the pointed snout. Wait, snout? Was this thing a Pokémon?

Before I could ponder on that further, the figure rushed at us and tried to swipe at me with its claws. Yep. Definitely a Pokémon. Luckily, I was holding the shower rod in the perfect position to block the attack. Had it been anywhere else, there would've been no way I could've reacted in time. This luck based parry gave me all the time I needed to spring into action. And by that, I mean tell my Pokémon what to do.

"Hey, don't just stand there! Help me!" Surprisingly, Hemlock was the first to respond. He shot of the same volleys from before, only this time they hit their target, causing it to back off. Sunny followed up almost immediately, hoping forward and causing a purple circle to appear under the mysterious Pokémon. Said Pokémon became tinted a similar purple of the circle below it, causing me to assume that it was poisoned. It charged again, albeit slower this time, and Sunny and Hemlock rushed forward to meet it. Stumpy, however, stayed behind looking even more apprehensive than before. Scared of fighting? I'd deal with him later. I grab his ball from my belt and return him, and turn back to the battle at hand.

Sunny and Hemlock were trying their hardest to hold the Pokémon off, but there was obvious skill difference. The Pokémon was countering their attacks with ease, hardly breaking a sweat, while my two Pokémon looked like they were starting to tire. I had to act fast.

Grip tightening on the shower rod, I run forward, leap over my Pokémon and bring the rod down on our attacker as hard as I could. I miss. This, however, still worked in our favor. The attacker dodged out of the way, moving from in front of the window and making our path, and our highly dangerous escape route, available for use.

"Sunny, Hemlock return!" I return them, place their balls back on my belt and make a beeline for the window. The Pokémon gives chase, so I throw the shower rod at it in hopes of slowing it down. It works, making the Pokémon trip over the bar and stumble to the ground, before quickly coming to its feet again. It was too late, however. I was already at the window.

I look out the window and, to my immense luck, spot a large pond 26 feet below. Now or never. As the Pokémon reaches the window, I dive out the window.

 _Hope this pond is as deep as it is big…_ My final thoughts as I plunge into the cold, dark depths below…

* * *

Next thing I know, I'm lying on the banks of the pond, the sun gently beaming down on me. I shiver. Even though the sun's out, it's still pretty cold.

I try to stand. Every part of me aches. They say that hitting water from a tall height is the same as hitting concrete. I believed them now.

After some struggle, I manage to get up on my knees before I abandon standing altogether. I look behind me. The pond is still and undisturbed. Looking up, I can make out the window I had jumped out of the night before. It was still broken, obviously, and the Pokémon from before was most likely long gone. I look down at my belt. Two balls. Uh-oh. My bag is also gone, I'd left that in the room, but I was more concerned with the missing ball. What was it? Two, three days into my journey and I've already lost a Pokémon?

I look back at the pond, hoping that I'd see a ball floating on its surface, but to no avail. I reach to the two balls on my belt. From the first ball, out pops Stumpy. He shakes water off of him, I guess Poké Balls aren't waterproof. Even though he was less than reliable, if last night is any indication of things to come, I was still glad to see him. I give him a hug, catching him off guard. Oh, that was a mistake; he was still wet, and hugging him just ended up causing me to become colder than before. There was also the fact that I was holding a ghost, which would send a chill down anyone's spine. Stumpy apparently agreed, struggling to get out of my grasp.

I let him go and reach for the second ball around my waist. Out pops Sunny, causing me to let out a breath I hadn't realized that I was holding. I was ecstatic to see my starter, even though I was initially disappointed in receiving him just three days ago. Funny how much things can change in so little time. My elation, however, was quickly replaced with guilt. Here I was, hoping that I still had Sunny, when Hemlock was still somewhere in that vast pond. He had fought just as hard, if not harder, than Sunny last night, and I was preferring one over the other.

Hey, wait. Stumpy's a ghost…

"Stumpy, is it possible for you to look for Hemlock's ball in the pond?" He shakes his head sadly. Maybe someone in town has some scuba gear I could borrow?

 _Who in a landlocked town like this would have scuba gear?_

Well, we are near the coast so, maybe… I shake my head. Regardless, Hemlock wasn't lost forever. He was safe in his ball, under the pond. It was only a matter of time before I, or someone, could go and get him for me. Then I remembered Stumpy shaking water off of himself when he first got out of his ball. Poké Balls aren't waterproof. What if… What if too much water got into his ball and he drowned?

"Kern…" Sunny says comfortingly, almost as if he was reading my mind. This guy… I pick him up.

"Don't worry you guys," Stumpy had come over too, "Hemlock isn't gone. He's somewhere in this pond. We'll find hi-"Something in my peripheral cuts me off.

On the opposite bank across the pond, the hooded figure from last night stands ominously. In its hand, sits a lone Poké Ball. It looks at me, smiles, and proceeds to crush the ball with one hand.

* * *

 **A/N: "Gammer, Gammer! The pond in Petalburg isn't close enough to the Poké Center to make that leap of faith possible!"**

 **Uh… Happy Thanksgiving?**


	6. Of Decisions and Doubts

They say that losing a child is the worst pain anyone can experience. What they don't tell you, is how it feels when you watch one of your Pokémon being crushed to death while you stand helpless off to the side.

I don't know why I cared so much; I had only had Hemlock for a day, if that. Heck, I had known people in my hometown longer, and would care less if they died. So why…?

I stare at the Pokémon in a mixture of shock and horror as the remnants of Hemlock's ball fall to the ground. The Pokémon looks down at the pile of Poké Ball pieces on the ground, and then looks back up at me and smiles. Then, it disappears into thin air. All of this happened in the span of thirty seconds.

In the cool morning air, multiple thoughts crossed my mind. At first, shock and horror. Then, incredulous. Next, acceptance. Finally, vengeful. I wanted revenge. Revenge for what that Pokémon put me through last night. Revenge for what that Pokémon put Petalburg through for who knows how long. And… Revenge for what that Pokémon did to Hemlock.

"Guys," I say to the Pokémon by my side, who were similarly frozen to the spot, "We're going to find who did this. And when we do, we're going to make them wish they hadn't."

"Kern!" Sunny's serious, yet enthusiastic reply. Maybe a little too enthusiastic. Stumpy says nothing.

"First things first, we need to find a way to find the Pokémon who did this." But how would we go about something like that? I know that the culprit was a Pokémon, but I don't know what kind of Pokémon it was…

Wait a minute… Last night, there was that newscast that was talking about the rise in vandalism and magic set thievery. They blamed it on a gang of hooded figures with black and white tails. That matches up with what the mysterious Pokémon I just saw!

Everyone probably thinks that the recent crimes were the work of humans. If I go to the police station and give them a description, however vague it may be, some might be able to identify it and maybe they'll know how to track it down!

"Guys! We're off to the police station!" Amazing how fast my emotions of sorrow can change to determination.

I return the two Pokémon that I still had, and push myself to my feet and try and find my way to the police station. As I embarked on my mission to get revenge, pieces of a Poké Ball lay forgotten on the opposite shore.

* * *

As I'm walking through the town, in search of the police station, I can't help but notice how empty the streets were. Was it because of how early it was? Or was it because of yesterday's newscast? Probably a mixture of both. Now that I thought about it, what time was- No! I can't let my mind wander into pointless trains of thought. Not now…

I stop walking and look around; nothing noteworthy in the area, just a few faceless residential buildings. Wait; doesn't it make sense to have a police station near a residential zone? A place where the crime rate is the highest? Yeah, it does! Okay, that means that we're on the right track…

A couple of minutes later and I'm standing in front of the Petalburg police station. Looking in the glass doors, it looks just as empty as the Poké Center from the day before. That worries me. Brushing my worries aside, I push the doors open and enter the building.

The inside of the station looked like your average police station; a couple of chairs stationed near a window, a counter off to the side, and a hallway leading further into the building in front of the counter. The only thing that seemed out of place was how empty everything was. What kind of police officers abandons their jobs because of a couple of criminals? I notice a bell sitting on the counter, and give it a ring.

No response. I ring the bell again. No response. It was one third ring that I finally got a response.

"Would you PLEASE cease that infernal ringing?" Out from the hallway steps an irritable woman clad in blue. Like, even her hair was a bluish-green color.

"Well, maybe if you had answered the first time…" I retort, equally as irritable. The officer, being taller than me, looked down at me condescendingly.

"I was hoping that whoever was out here would've been smart enough to take the hint when they were ignored the first time. I was woefully incorrect." Oh, this stuck up- I shake my head.

"Look, I'm not here to engage in a battle of wits-" Did she just snicker at that?! "-I'm here because I have information on the new gang, I guess you'd call them, that have been a problem lately."

Something in my tone and/or face must've told her that I wasn't fooling around.

"Go on." She replied, dropping the patronizing look and tone from earlier. That's what sucks about being young. People don't respect you until it benefits them.

Regardless, I spend the next couple of minutes retelling my whole ordeal at the Poké Center the night before. I left some details out, namely me being scared and what happened to Hemlock, but she got the gist of it.

"A Pokémon with a pointed snout, black nose, and red claws…" She repeats my rather vague description of my assailant. "The only Pokémon that I can think of that meets all of those criteria, and have a red and black tail, would be a Zoroark. But they aren't indigenous to this area… Then again, ever since that meteor incident awhile back…" The officer begins muttering to herself. I, however, was caught up on one word that she had said.

 _Zoroark! No wonder the thing about the black and red tails from yesterday had seemed familiar!_

I was about to rush out of the station and track down Zoroark, when two thoughts prevented me from doing so.

One, I had no clue how to track down any Pokémon, much less a dark-type who were known for being tricksters.

Two, what if there were more than one Zoroark? How would I know which one to get revenge on? Would I just seek vengeance on all of them? No, that wouldn't be right.

And then, I started thinking about what I meant by vengeance. What _would_ I do if, and when, I found the Zoroark responsible for Hemlock? Would I…? No. No matter what, I would never lower myself to _that._ But, I couldn't just let it off with a slap on the wrist and gentle chastisement, could I?

I decided to pay attention to what the officer was saying, rather than stirring up internal strife.

"-But Zoroark and Zorua are typically docile Pokémon, sure they're pranksters, but what dark-type isn't? They don't cause this kind of harm unless… Unless their lair is disturbed!" Looks like someone had an epiphany.

"But, who would be dumb enough to disturb a nest full of dark-types? Eh, who am I kidding; there are a lot of dumb people in this world. Okay, Jenny, let's use process of elimination here. Zoroark and Zorua have started showing up on Route 101 recently. The only two towns close enough to there, would be Oldale and Littleroot. In Oldale, there's that one guy who's always thinking he's found some rare footprints, but he hardly ever leaves the town limits, so we can eliminate him." She looks down and begins pacing back and forth, nearly bumping into me. Did she forget that I was here?

"That leaves Littleroot. But, who's in Lit- Oh wait. _Birch._ Yeah, I should've figured it was him." She sighs. "How many times do we have to tell him…" She trails off again, but this time it doesn't matter. I had the information I needed.

"Birch of Littleroot, huh?" I say to myself once had exited the station. If I go to him, he might be able to direct me to the Zoroark's lair. Then again, that officer had said his name with such contempt. Was it really wise to ask a man like that to take me to a potentially dangerous Pokémon's lair? Heck, was it smart to ask anyone that? Regardless, I knew where I had to go next. Onwards, to Li-

"Hold up, Kid! What was that about you breaking a window?"

Uh…

* * *

Luckily, I didn't get slapped by a vandalism charge.

Unluckily I was riding in a police cruiser to Littleroot.

Luckily, I didn't have to walk to Littleroot.

After explaining what happened to the window was, probably, not my fault at all, I was let off the hook. Then, the officer, her name's Jenny by the way, suddenly exclaimed that she was going to Littleroot. Naturally, I asked if I could get a ride. Hey, I'll pick riding in a car, even a police cruiser, over walking any day.

She asked; somewhat suspiciously, why I needed a ride to Littleroot, and I just came up with some random lie about needing to visit family, wouldn't be exactly smart to tell a police officer that I planned to do something dangerous and possibly illegal.

Totally buying my story, she told me to hop in the back of her cruiser and an hour later we stopped in Oldale. She then proceeded to tell me to get out of her car, before walking off muttering something about footprints.

I wasn't exactly sure why we stopped in Oldale, but I was glad for it. Sitting in the back of a police car like that made me feel like a criminal. Plus, I realized that not only had my Pokémon and I not eaten for a while, but also that Sunny probably needed healing after his confrontation with the Zoroark from last night.

I walked to the Poké Center and entered the doors, only to be met with a strange sight. The center wasn't overly crowded. Nor was it completely empty. It looked more like I'd expect a Poké Center to be; a smooth, steady flow of activity and chatter.

I walk up to the counter only to be greeted by a male nurse. A big, scary male nurse. Huh, that wasn't something you saw every day.

He says me staring at him and clears his throat menacingly.

"It's not nice to stare, _Kid._ " With the way he put emphasis on 'Kid', I got the impression that he would've preferred to use a much stronger word.

"Oh, sorry," was my response. "I came here to get my Pokémon healed. Well, one of them anyway. Here you go," I say that last part while handing him Sunny's ball.

He gives me a nod, tells me the healing will be done in two hours- really, two hours for one Pokémon? –and tells me to come back later. Only, when he said it, it came off a little like a threat. Must be my imagination… I hope.

I leave the center, somewhat hurriedly, and look around for a Poké Mart. First up was to get some food for my Pok- Aaaand I left my bag, which had all my supplies in it, in Petalburg's Poké Center. Great.

For the second time in less than 3 days, I was hungry and broke. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a trend.

Okay, so how am I going to make money to get food this time? With Stumpy being my only Pokémon, I couldn't really fight anyone. If last night was any indicator, Stumpy doesn't like to fight. Then again, that may be because he would've been going up against a dark-type. Were ghosts weak to dark-types? I think they are which would explain is anxiousness the night before…

Okay, it's settled! Stumpy's going to make us some money!

* * *

An hour later, and I had a big wad of cash in my hand. For all his hesitation the night before, Stumpy was a really good fighter. I mean, he used the same three moves, but they were all ones I recognized. Tackle, Confuse Ray, and Astonish. With those three moves, we quickly devised a strategy of confusing the opponent before tackling it into submission. It was surprisingly effective.

Stumpy got a little banged up in the process, so when we got to the Poké Mart, I was going to buy some potions. Then, I remembered how much that thing stung me the night before and decided against it. I'd just find some berries.

I did, however, buy a new bag because the old one probably wouldn't still be there when I got back. I also bought some food, both for me and my Pokémon. Did you know each type had a specific type of food? One thing I didn't buy, however, was any Poké Balls.

 _Too soon…_

Yeah…

Anyway, I was making my way back to the center when I heard the roaring of the engine and caught sight of the police car that I had ridden here pulling away from Oldale and heading in the direction of Littleroot. Well, looks like I was walking after all.

Re-entering the center, I headed towards to tables and chairs that were off to the side. Sunny wasn't quite done healing yet, so Stumpy and I were going to eat to pass the time.

As I sat down at a randomly selected table, I noticed that the only other person over here was a little boy. His eyes had a dark look to them, and he was looking down. Either he was tired and falling asleep, or he had seen something mentally scaring; hopefully the former, probably the latter, if my morning was anything to go on.

My morning… Hemlock… I shake my head. If I got all sad now, I'd probably be unable to go through with my plan.

 _My plan of what exactly?_

For the second time within two hours, I found myself pondering on what I would actually do. Outside of straight up 'Eye for an eye', I couldn't think of anything else to do with the Zoroark once I caught it. Maybe that made me a terrible person. Maybe I needed help. Maybe I should've told Officer Jenny what I had been planning to do.

I sigh. All these maybes weren't going to help me now. I take Stumpy's ball from around my waist and lightly toss it to the ground.

"Hey Stumpy, time to eat," I say as I get the container clearly marked 'Ghost'. I place it in front of him and he goes in on it immediately. At the pace he was going, you'd think I'd never fed him before. Then I realized that I hadn't fed him before. Then I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything since a couple of berries the day before. I really need to start making food a higher priority.

I unwrap the sandwich I got from the Poké Mart. It wasn't much, but it's surprising that a place that literally has 'Poké' in the name has anything for human consumption, so I guess I can't really complain.

I was about to take a bite out of my sandwich, when the kid from earlier got up and started walking towards me. He looks up and points to my sandwich. Wow. Is he really going to walk up and demand my sandwich without as much as a word? The ner- Then, I get a good look at his face.

His face was dirty, but under his eyes you could see streaks where the dirt wasn't as prevalent; almost as if he had been crying. His brown eyes had a sad, far off look to them.

Well… I broke. With a sigh I hand him the sandwich. With tears forming in his eyes, he takes the sandwich slowly, as if he was unsure if I was going to pull it from him at the last second. When it became apparent that I wasn't a heartless demon, he took the sandwich, smiled, nods at me graciously, and then hurries back to his seat.

At first, I was bitter. I just gave up my sandwich for someone I didn't even know. The fact that my stomach didn't seem to like my decision either didn't help my mood. Then I looked over at the boy, tearing into the sandwich as if it was the best thing in the world.

I stay hungry and get a smile in return. Yeah, that was worth it.

* * *

 **A/N: "Gammer, Gammer! I believe that the Pokémon causing mischief was Zoroark. I really do. But last chapter, it used Shadow Sneak, which is a move that Zoroark can't learn!"**

 **Oh, yeah. You're right. I also used four line breaks, but I guess that part isn't important to you.**


	7. Of New Beginnings

**Uh... Sorry about the wait. I promise to update more frequently from now on. Should be easier now that certain things have resolved themselves. Anyway, I don't own** **Pokémon an all that jazz.**

* * *

Well, Route 101 was uneventful, if deceptively long.

Several hours had passed since I left Oldale earlier in the day. By the time I'd arrived at Littleroot, the sun was already starting to set again.

"So, this is Littleroot," I say after entering the town. Had to admit; it didn't get the name 'Littleroot' for nothing. This place was _tiny_. Sure, there were some houses here and there, but compared to even Oldale, Littleroot looked like nothing more than a hamlet.

Walking around a bit, I had to wonder: does Birch even live here? You'd think someone of his renown would live somewhere more… I don't know, lavish? Well, it's not like I had any better leads to his whereabouts.

I briefly considered letting my Pokémon out of their balls, but decided against it. Route 101 was too long and there were too many trainers. No, it'd be best to let them rest for the time being.

I also considered renaming them because, let's face it, Sunny and Stumpy are two horrible names. They honestly deserved better. Especially after all the mon- I mean, after all the work they went through on Route 101. Problem was, I'm terrible with names. Maybe I'd get some inspiration somewhere?

Pushing that thought aside, I realized that I'd reached the end of the road. The dirt road.

"Man, this place really is the sticks. I walk for five minutes and I'm already- Hey, what's with this place?" I notice a building at the end of the road. Unlike the residential building's I passed, this seemed a lot bigger. That wasn't what caught my attention, though. It was the sign in front of the building that did.

"Professor Birch's Pokémon Lab," it read. Well, that was oddly convenient. I knock on the door. No answer. I try knocking again. Still no answer. Guess he's not in. That's just great. Looks like I'll have to wait for a bit.

I look up at the setting sun. I… didn't see a Pokémon Center on my way here. Spending the night outside has little appeal to me. Then again, my other option is to ask some random stranger if I could spend the night with them. I didn't necessarily feel like winding up on the side of a milk carton, so I guess outside was my only option.

Problem was, I didn't have any camping gear. Sure, I could buy some, but Littleroot is apparently lacking in anything convenient, so there isn't a store to be found.

I recall seeing some benches every so often along Route 101 and, while probably not a good idea; it sure beat sleeping on the ground. With a plan in mind, I set back out to Route 101.

…

Okay, so it turns out there _weren't_ any benches to be found on Route 101. What's more is by now the sun had fully set, so visibility was at a minimum. The end result? Me fumbling around in the dark for benches that weren't even there while tripping on every root I came across.

Eventually, I just said forget it, and decided to rest up against some random tree. Sitting down, I slip off the bag that I'd bought back in Oldale. I rummage through it hoping to find something to eat.

Potions, some Repels, a good chunk of money, a… Hard Stone? Where'd I get a Hard Stone? Ah, here they are. I still had some left over berries from the Berry Shop. Only, it was too dark for me to see what berry I was eating, so I was grabbing two at a time and hoping they weren't deadly. Luckily, none were, and after eating about six or so berries, I let my Pokémon out to eat the rest. Sunny's ecstatic. Stumpy scoffs before eating. Good thing neither of them are picky.

* * *

 _Elsewhere_

"C'mon, that _thing_ can't escape us forever!" An emphatic female voice could be heard, even over the storm. Her underlings give shouts of agreement in response, before heading out in pursuit.

 _I've spent far too long tracking you down. But, it all ends today._ _With the powers of both the Voice of the Forest and the Wish Maker at my disposal, everything will finally fall into place._

Voice of the Forest and Wish Maker. She often said these names aloud, but none of the grunts were privy to any information outside of those two names. Still, they followed her. Whether out of fear, respect, or both mattered not. All that mattered was that they were competent and plentiful.

Minutes melted into hours, yet none of the Grunts had returned. She was getting aggravated; so much for the competent part. At that very moment, however:

"Sir- Uh, Ma'am- No, wait… Sir? Uh, Boss the Pokémon is, uh, nowhere to be seen. We think that it may… have…" The Grunt trails off when he sees her face. Even in the dark storm, her murderous expression is clearly visible.

"P-p-please don't kill me Sir- Uh, I mean Boss! I'm just the messenger!" She turns away from the Grunt. A perfect opportunity and they had squandered it. They had to be the most-

"It's too dark!" A Grunt from within the trees yells. "Use Sunny Day," he says to his Pokémon. The raging storm is immediately replaced with searing sunlight that momentarily blinds everyone in the vicinity.

"Gah, you idiot! That's _too_ bright," the Grunt's partner yells at him. "Plus, we need the rain for dramatic effect! Use Rain Dance!" For a second time, the weather changes drastically, reverting back to the near deafening storm.

"We need to add to the effect," a third Grunt yells from another part of the woods. "Use Thunder!" Numerous lightning bolts rain down with uproarious cracks, striking many trees and causing them to fall. Yells from within the woods can be heard in response to the trees around them fell one by one.

The boss shakes her head and sighs.

… _I need better Grunts…_

* * *

The next day saw me standing outside of Birch's lab. Like yesterday, however, there was no response when I knocked on the door. I'd decided to knock ask on of the townsfolks about Birch's whereabouts, but got no answer. It wasn't because nobody was home, though. They just didn't feel like answering. Walking up to a door, I'd clearly hear voices, but when I knocked? Silence.

Either the people of Littleroot were serious introverts, or they were avoiding me. Hard to tell which one seems more likely. Anyway, I wasn't getting anywhere by waiting around for another day. I contemplated just moving on. And I didn't mean just from Littleroot. I meant moving on from the whole revenge thing. I mean it's not like I… had known H- No, that wasn't it. That was just an excuse.

I hadn't thought of it until now, but what _was_ my plan? Storm into a den filled with dangerous Pokémon? That wasn't just stupid; it was flat out suicide. And then there was Sunny and Stumpy to consider. Even if I did find the den, even if I did make it out alive, what about them? Would they meet a dire fate just because my rash decisions?

I shake my head. _Real_ trainers didn't go around endangering lives to satisfy their own selfish goals. If I was going to be a real trainer, one that I'd always dreamed of being, then I'd need to learn to grow up.

Shaking my head again, I got to my feet- hadn't realized that I'd fallen to my knees -and decided to head back to Petalburg. Becoming a trainer involved completing the Gym circuit, right? Then that's what I'd need to do, one badge at a time.

For the first time, I departed a town with a clear goal in mind. Today marked a new beginning. Today was the day I finally-

"S-SOMEONE! HELP ME!" My train of thought is interrupted by a yell for help coming from within Route 101.

 _Well, I wanted to change? No time like the present then!_ My thoughts as I rush towards the origin of the voice, a look of determination etched on my face.

…

Okay, so I know I just gave a whole speech about growing up, but the scene in front of me was too hilarious to ignore. A slightly rotund man was being running around in circles, pursued by a Zigzagoon. I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing.

My laughs attracted the attention of the man, prompting him to look in my direction. Well, look as best as he could while being chased by a Zigzagoon.

"Y-you there! Stop laughing and h-help me!" The man said, sounding rather angry. Or maybe he was just panicking. Hard to say, really.

Struggling to stifle my laughter, I reach for Stumpy's ball.

"Alright, let's do this," I shout as I throw Stumpy's ball. It hits the ground and in a brilliant flash of white light Stumpy pops out, raring to go.

As if something in its mind clicked, the Zigzagoon shifted its attention from the man and towards me and Stumpy. Upon further inspection, I see that this Zigzagoon seems stronger than the most of the ones around here. This might be a challenge, then.

"Stumpy, let's open this up with a Confuse Ray!" Stumpy acknowledges my command and emits an orb of black light. He launches it towards the Zigzagoon at a high speed who, true to its name, tries to avoid it by running forward in a zig-zag pattern.

Unfortunately for it, every time it moves in one direction, the orb simply follows it. The orb hits and starts to spin around our opponent, who tries to focus on the orb but only ends up getting confused in the process.

"Stumpy, hit it with a Tackle!" He goes in for the hit, but the Zigzagoon snaps out of confusion in an instant and rolls out the way, leaving Stumpy to crash into the ground. It tries to follow up with an attack of its own, perhaps Headbutt, but it merely passes through Stumpy.

I was confused at first, but then remembered that Normal moves didn't affect Ghost types, and vice versa. It was a neat advantage to have, but it limited Stumpy's attacking moves to Tackle only. And, with the Zigzagoon able to snap out of confusion instantly…

"Stumpy, return!" He looks back at me, with a fairly miffed look on his face as a red beam hits him, returning him to his ball. Oh well.

"Sunny, come one out and use Sunny Day!" I still didn't know any of Sunny's moves, but him using Sunny Day worked well enough against that Swampert the other day, so…

He pops out of his ball and lands on the ground. Immediately upon landing, he hops up twice and the sunlight becomes stronger in response. It didn't come without a price, though. After landing from the second hop, Sunny is hit full force by the Zigzagoon. He slides back a couple of feet, but seems to be okay.

"Okay, Sunny! You know what to do now!" Hopefully. Because I don't.

He nods, and starts to glow white. The Zigzagoon rushes forwards in an attempt to interrupt the attack, but it's too slow. Sunny stops glowing for a split second before a violent beam on concentrated energy erupts from his mouth. The beam travels fast, hitting the Zigzagoon in a blink of an eye. The beam, and the Zigzagoon with it, keeps moving until it hits a tree. With a crack, the Zigzagoon hits the tree and is continually pounded by the beam until Sunny decides to let up.

Only problem is, he doesn't let up. If anything, the beam seems to surge with power as Sunny puts forth more effort. Anymore of this and…

"Sunny! That's enough! Stop already!" Either he can't hear me or flat out ignores me as the beam continues to steadily increase in power. It gets to the point where the tree starts to shift backwards from the force.

"Sunny, I said that's enough!" I run forward and try to physically restrain him. Stupid move, but it works as the beam starts to dissipate before disappearing all together. Luckily, my hands only _slightly_ burn. I let go of Sunny, who whirls around to face me, an angry look on his face. A second later, though, and his look of anger is replaced with a sheepish one as he looks downwards, either out of embarrassment, disappointment, shame, or a combination three.

I look over to the Zigzagoon, who'd fallen to the ground. It lay there smoking on the ground, but before I could assume the worse, its tail gave a little twitch, indicating that it was still alive. For now, at least.

Knowing that it probably didn't have much longer, I took off my bag and began frantically searching. I rummaged through my bag until I found what I was looking for: a pink and yellow Poké Ball that someone on Route 101 had sold me the other day. They called it a Heal Ball and claimed that it had the power to fully heal whatever Pokémon it caught on the spot.

I could only hope that it was true as I held the ball in my hand and rushed towards the Zigzagoon.

…

"Well, that was… exciting," Birch said. Thirty minutes after the fight found us at Birch's lab. Luckily, the Heal Ball had worked as advertised; bringing the Zigzagoon back from the brink of death instantly. I couldn't even begin to imagine how they worked.

I had briefly contemplated keeping the Zigzagoon, but figured that seeing Sunny again might've triggered some sort of PSTD in it or something, so I simply released back into the wild.

Speaking of Sunny… I don't know what it is, but that guy had some issues. No Pokémon should willingly inflict that much pain on anything, much less something that was obviously defeated upon impact. When I said the Zigzagoon was on the brink of death, I wasn't kidding. It literally didn't have a pulse by the time I'd reached; the fact that Sunny could do that so easily, and so willingly, scared me.

"Exciting isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe it," I respond after a moment of hesitation. More like terrifying.

"Regardless, thanks for the help! Even if…" He trails off from whatever he was about to say. Probably something about what had happened. I made no move to continue on that train of thought, and after a couple of seconds of awkward silence, Birch cleared his throat and changed the topic.

"So, uh…" Birch trails off again. Man, he is bad at making conversation, isn't he?

"So, what were you doing running around Route 101 being chased by a Zigzagoon? They're hardly frightening." I say. Birch looks relieved to have a straw to grasp at, but embarrassed about the question at the same time.

"Ah that. Well, uh, I usually carry a bag full of Poké Balls, in case something like this happens, but I kinda left it here." I roll my eyes at that. "Hey, c'mon! I'm sure you could tell that Zigzagoon was stronger than normal! And I didn't have any Pokémon on me!" I couldn't really argue with that. But…

"Aren't you supposed to be a professor? I mean, even toddlers know not to go anywhere wild Pokémon live without one of their own." Birch had no counter to that.

"A-Anyway, based on the way you fought earlier, you must be a trainer, right?" You'd think Birch would have better things to do than engage in small talk with a 14 year-old.

"Yeah, I… I'm a trainer. Only started a couple days ago, though." If Birch noticed the pause, he didn't comment on it.

"Ah, a newbie, are ya? I remember when my kid was in your shoes. Seems just like yesterday…" He takes a moment to look up at the ceiling. "Anyway, how's being a trainer working out for you?" Okay, this is starting to bug me.

"Uh, no disrespect sir, but don't you have anything better to do? Like, I don't know, research?" I expected him to get mad, but he only chuckled.

"Why do you think I was out in Route 101 earlier? I was out collecting some data on the new types of Pokémon that just started showing up around here not too long ago." Ah, that makes some sense. "Besides, I have a lot of aides- Okay, I only really have two, but they're out working right now."

"Oh, okay. To answer your question, being a trainer… It's opened my eyes to some things." He seems surprised at that.

"So soon? It usually takes a couple of months for trainers to actually learn anything from their travels." He walks over to a desk and sits in a chair, beckoning me over. "Tell me; how many Pokémon do you have?"

"Thr- Two, the ones that I used against that Zigzagoon." Again, Birch either doesn't notice my slip up or chooses not to comment on it.

"Ah, so that Sunkern and Phantump? How about badges? Ribbons?" Phantump? Is that what Stumpy was? Oh, right, questions.

"Uh, no. No badges or ribbons. Though, I was heading to Petalburg in order to challenge the gym there."

"And what of your family? Are any of them trainers?" Birch leans forward in his chair, interest apparently piqued.

"I don't think so; my parents were just gardeners." Thinking about my parents made me miss them a little. And the money they'd left for me before I left home.

"Interesting… One last question: what is your name?" Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself. I tell him my name. In response, Birch leans back in his chair a little, arms crossed.

"Hm… I could- But then again…" Birch begins contemplating on something, regularly shifting his view from me, to the ceiling, and then back to me.

After a minute or two of this, Birch suddenly stands up and points at me excitedly.

"Alright! It's decided! I'm going to give you a Pokédex!"

* * *

 **AN: Right, so I decided to do ellipses to signify shorter time skips. I figured that that would be better than having too many line breaks per chapter. Also, now that I have a general idea of what I want to do with this story, writing it should come easier than it did before.**

 **Feel free to criticize this story, if you want. It can only make me write better.**


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